Charles S. Winans ,MD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Medicine and former Co- Director of the Section of Gastroenterology passed away on June 7, 2020. He was 85 years old. Dr. Winans served the Department of Medicine for over 40 years, beginning his distinguished career as an instructor in 1968 and rose to the rank of professor in 1977. He was named as the Sara and Harold Lincoln Thompson Professor in 1987 before he retired in 2008. Dr. Winans served as Co-Director of the Section of Gastroenterology from 1980-1986.
Dr. Winans was born on August 9, 1935. He attended Haverford College and then Western Reserve University for medical school (now Case Western), graduating in 1961. His internal medicine training was at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, and GI and research fellowship was at Boston University. He then served admirably in the United States Navy and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and was Chief of Gastroenterology of the United States Naval Hospital in Portsmouth Virginia from 1966.
Dr. Winans was an exceptional gastroenterologist and dedicated physician who focused his efforts on the upper GI tract, especially the esophagus. As a member of the University of Chicago community for over 4 decades, Dr. Winans willingly gave his time to serve on many committees in the Department of Medicine, Biological Sciences Division and at the University level. Through the years, he was awarded numerous accolades for his teaching and for the care of the patient, including the AGA Distinguished Clinician Award in 2003.